Bess Bezirgan Winston

Bess is a strategist, leader and content developer who is passionate about the intersection of social value and corporate social responsibility. For over 20 years, she has partnered with Fortune 100 corporations, national organizations, associations and non-profits to advance causes and movements that help society and enterprises thrive.

Bess has developed and executed strategic partnership programs supporting environment and health and wellness platforms for leading brand, including the Dow Chemical Company, Tetra Pak North America and the World Bank Group Water Practice. In addition, over the course of her career, she has worked on a variety of communications and marketing initiatives for such organizations as Aveda, Alcoa, the American Red Cross, the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Valparaiso University. Through message development, executive thought leadership programs, targeted outreach strategies, spokesperson coaching and training, and materials creation, Bess has helped organizations enhance their reputations and grow their visibility.

In addition to her private-sector experience, Bess’s background includes work in the public sector. She was Director of Public Relations for the Portfolio of Finance and Economics for the Government of the Cayman Islands and was a senior adviser to U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush, serving successively as Press Secretary, Deputy Chief of Staff and Acting Chief of Staff. Bess is an adjunct faculty member in the Advanced Academics Program at Johns Hopkins University’s Kreiger School of Arts and Sciences and has taught at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management. Bess studied Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She holds an M.S. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a B.A. from Tufts University.